Stand for christmas trees or the like



July 24, 195] p R. n. mw: 2,561,693

w STAND FOR CHRISTMAS TREES OR THE LIKE Filed Jan. 19, 1946 INVENTORn j iywik HTTQZQRW 'o'na l shank portion l8 fitted tion grip.

Patented July 24, 1951 omca STAND FOR CHRISTMAS TREES OR THE LIKE Richard 1). Frye, Adrian, Mich. 'ApplicationJanuary 19, 1946, Serial No. 642,325

3 Claims. (01. 248-44) This invention relates to holders or stands, and

\ 'It is an object of the invention to provide a stand for securely supporting a tree trunk or the like that can be assembled readily from a few simple parts that can .be stored or shipped in nested relation in a very small container.

It is a further object of theinvention to provide a knock-down stand of this type employing a minimum number of kinds of parts so that manufacture of the stand requires the production of Only a minimum of different pieces.

, Other objects of the invention are the provision of a stand so constructed that the weight of the tree supported by the stand acts to tighten the grip of the tree-engaging elements of the stand; a stand that permits ready adjustment of the trunk to its desired vertical (or off-vertical) position; and a stand that can be quickly applied to the base of the tree without cutting, tapering, orlothershaping of the base of the tree trunk.

Referring to the drawings.- I "Figure 1 is a the present invention assembled and inposition to support a cut tree;

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the stand partly broken away and partly in section on the line 2-2 of Figure 1 l Figure 3 is a detail perspective view of a portionof the stand, showing the parts in position for assembly; q I

Figure 4 is a plan view of an assembled stand embodying a modification of the invention;

Figure 5 is an edge elevational View of the stand of Figure 4 partly brokenaway and partly in section on the line 5-5 of Figure 4; and

Figure 6 is a cross-sectional elevation view of perspective view of the stand .of

a modified embodiment of the present invention.

The stand represented Figures 1, 2 and 3 comprises a coupling or centerpin l6 formedwith head a polygonal shank portion |8, preferably immediatel adjacent the head, and a reduced shank portion IS'eXtending; from the shank portion l8 and ending at a sharpened point 26. The pin 6 may be an ordinary nail with a polygover it with a fric- The pin I6 is employed to couple together at I one of their ends, several base members 26, preferably four in number, in equally spaced angular relation. The members 26 are each formed with a polygonal opening 21 in one end and with a pair of spaced apart lugs 28 at the opposite enu, the lugs being right-angularly related to the member 26.

The stand comprises also a plurality of struts 3| corresponding in number to the members 26. Each of the struts 3| is provided at one end with pointed projections or teeth 32 preferably curved slightly relative to the struts 3| and at its other end with notches 33 in opposite side edges of the strut 3 I, the notches being in alignment with each other and proportioned to receive the lugs 28 on the members 26. l

The stand is assembled by inserting the center pin l6 through the polygonal opening 21 in one of the members 26 and then passing it througha second of the members 26 with the second member angularly related to the first member. The pin is then passed through the openings in the nest of the members 26 with each member angularly placed relative to the last assembled member. Where four members 26 are provided, there are preferably square openings 2! in the ends of the members so that the members in assembly are each spaced from the adjacent members. Where three or five or more members 26 would be provided, then the openings 21 and the portion l8 of the coupling pin would be of triangular shape, pentagonal shape, or other shape corresponding to the numbers of the members 2E. After the members 26 have been assembled to the pin IS, the reduced shank I 9 of the pin is driven into the bottom of the trunk of the tree to be supported to secure the assembly to the tree. The shoulder formed by the polygonal portion of the shank l8 of the pin preferably abuts or pierces the surface of the bottom ofthe tree trunk so that the members 26 are prevented from slipping off the polygonal portion of the shank of the pin.

Th tree may then be set in upright position and the struts 3| put inplace by placing the notched end of each member over the outer ends of the members 26 with the lugs 28 on the members 26 received in the notches 33 in the struts 3|. The teeth 32 at the other ends of the struts 3| are then forced into the trunk of the tree to hold the tree upright. The vertical position of the tree may be adjusted simply by withdrawing the teeth from the trunk at one or more sides of th tree and tilting the tree in the direction de sired and then'replacing the teeth.

In setting up the tree, the preferable procedure is to arrange the struts 3| so that the teeth at the ends thereof merely touch the tree trunk. The tree may then be adjusted to its desired vertical position and by pressing down on the tree cause the teeth to become embedded in the trunk of the tree. The necessary downward movement of the tree is permitted by having the polygonal portion I8 of the center pin I6 slightly greater in length than the combined thicknesses of the members 26, so that the bottom of the tree trunk can be forced downwardly over the upper end of the polygonal portion a slight distance before it is arrested by the ends of the'members 26. Also, this downward movement may be provided for by driving the center pin into the bottom of the trunk of the tree a distance a little short of the shoulder formed by the polygonal portion.

It will be seen that the present invention. is formed from only three extremely simple parts, the first being the center pin, the other two'being the base member 26, and theother the strut 3|. Each member is substantially straight and they all can be stacked together into a single package" approximately 1" to 1 in cross section and 6"'to 10" long (or longer if desired) Such package is so small that it can be stored, shipped and displayed with a minimum of room and can be carried off by the purchaser in a pocket or handbag, and when not in use can be laid aside in a drawer or on a shelf with a minimumof space requirements. The invention is so simple that the principal members 26 and 3| can be produced very inexpensively from sheet metal stampings of a single weight stock.

Various modifications and variations may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention. For example, the modification shown-in Figures 4 and 5 differs from the preferred form of the invention in having three pairs of members'radiating from th center pin. These members and the center pin are generally similar to those of the-preferred form of the invention and like parts, therefore, are designated by similar reference numerals raised to the series 100.

In this for-m of the invention, the center pin 6 has a shank portion 36 that is circular'in cross section instead of polygonal as in the preferred form, and the ends of the members I26 are provided with mating round holes 31.

To position the pairs of members I26, I3I in the desired equally spaced relation, one ofthe members I26 isprovided with a lug 38 at its inner end. The lug 38 is of a length that will engage the other two members I26 to prevent angular movement toward each other from their positions where they are about 120 apart. The member I26 next above the one carrying the lug 38 is provided with two end lugs 4| and 42. These lugs extend at right angles from the member I26 and respectively in opposite directions. The lug 4| engages th bottom member I26 and the lug42 engages the top member I26 to prevent-angular movement of these two members toward each other.

The top member I26 is provided with a lug 43 at its end that is similar to the lug 38 except that it extends in the opposite direction relative to the member I26. This lug 43 is received between the bottom member I26 and the intermediate member I26 and acts to hold these two members in angularly spaced relation. The relation'of the lugs 38, 4|, 42 and-43 is thus arranged to hold the members I26 angularly spacedabout 120 from each other.

In Figure 6 another embodiment of the invention is shown. In this modification, there are two identical base members 225 and 226, respectively, each with a round or polygonal hole in the center through which a mating center pin 2|6 projects to pierce and hold the post or tree 2I'I. The free ends of the base members are similar to the ends of the base members 26 of Figures 1 to 3 and coactwith struts or supports 23I which are similar in design to the struts 3|. In setting up this form of stand, the uppermost base member 225 can easily be slightly bent downwardly so. that the extremities lie in the same plane as the other base member 226 and thus form ,a flat sturdy supporting structure. While the resulting package of the entire unit in disassembled form would be somewhat longer than the package of the form shown in Figures 1 to 3, the other'benefits of simplicity, strength and ease of erection would be retained. 'Other modifications may be made within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the claims. I I

I claim: 1. A holder for a Christmas tree or the like whichcomprises a center pin formed of a nail and a polygonal shank fitted over the nail adjacent itshead, the point of the nail adapted to pierce the bottom of a cut tree, four fiat base members, each having a polygonal hole at one end conforming to-the contours of said shank adapted to receive snugly said polygonal shank when said. ends are stacked on top of one another and prevent relative rotational movement in the plane of said base members, each base member extending radially .with one in each quadrant, lugscat the free ends of said base members extendingvertically'upwardly, and four struts having recesses at one end adapted to receive and hold said lugs and having teeth at the other end adapted to gripthe tree. trunk at a position-above the bottom thereof and hold the same in posi- .ion. 1

2. .5. stand asset forth in claim 1, in which each of said struts are identical in-size and configuration, and each of said base members are identical to one another. 1

3. A stand as set forth in claim 1, in which the said struts and the'said base members are substantially the same width and formed of metal stampings of substantially similar weight of stock, and said struts, basemembers and center pin are capable of being packaged in parallel relation in a small container.

RICHARD D. FRYE.

REFERENCES CITED 7 The following references are of record inthe file of this patent:

UNITED STATES. PATENTS 527,258 Germany Mar. 22, 1930 

